Novice game players usually are playing the game or genre of game for the first time or haven’t spent much time playing the game. They are not familiar with all of the controls of the game and don’t know any tips or tricks to the game.
Expert game players have usually played the game or genre of game many times before. They know most of the tips and tricks to the game and can breeze through the first few levels.
An easy distinction between expert and novice gamers may be when they first encounter difficulty in game play. A novice gamer will have trouble on the first few rounds of gameplay when an expert gamer will not find difficulty until the later rounds.